Dancing with Demons

First of the Sister Fidelma novels I've read and certainly enjoyable, with its share of excitement and plot twists. I can see why this series is so popular.
This one investigates the murder of the High King of Ireland. Is the culprit a man found at the bedside of the murdered man, who has killed himself? Called upon to find his motivation the heroine uncovers a religious conspiracy of which the suicide is a participant.

This particular installment of the Sister Fidelma series digs into the tensions between the "old ways" and the "New Faith" with much more detail than the previous books. While occasionally tedious to hear it explained via audiobook, the additional context adds a complexity and richness to the world of Fidelma that is more than just Druids vs. Christians. The plot, however, is very slow, and the reveal (in typical Fidelma fashion) takes almost 40 minutes in the audiobook. The motive itself does provide some twists and turns, but the answer to "whodunnit" was so complex and full of weird afterthoughts that I wasn't that interested in the end. This is often the case when there's an "obvious" murderer at the outset -- in this case Dubh show more Duin, chieftain of the clan Cinél Cairpre, who cannot unfortunately provide any defense or otherwise since he seems to have taken his own life after seemingly killing the High King Suchnussach in his bedroom. All is, as you might guess, not what it seems. This is the situation in which Fidelma finds herself.

Happily, in terms of character development, we start to see an increase in Fidelma's self-awareness, particularly of her treatment of Eadulf, who also seems to be coming more into his own. show less

Peter Tremayne knows how to write a story, and the world he has created with the Sister Fidelma series is quite magnificent. The story is set in Ireland in 669 AD. Things were quite different then, and Sister Fidelma�s world has been enlightening me for some years now since this is something like the 17 or 18 book. Tremayne builds his stories on true historical happenings, and he quite captures the feeling of the times. In this book the High King of the Five Kingdoms is found dead in his locked bedroom, and the assassin has put a knife through his own heart in order to avoid being caught for this treasonous act. Sister Fidelma and the faithful Eadulf are called in to determine what happened, and they uncover political and personal show more plots that put their lives in danger. I recommend this series highly, but it should be read in order, starting with �Absolution by Murder�. It would be difficult to get into the era without the background that is built up in each book. show less

Lots of challenges for Sister Fidelma as she is requested to review the murder of the High King. What first seems obvious with the apparent killer, dead by suicide at the victim's bedside soon becomes strangely questionable. Fiudelma's quest for truth challenges the obvious and her legal mindset and adroit pursuit for the truth lead to very different conclusions.

Dancing with Demons is 16th novel in the chronicles of Sister Fidelma. This book takes place a year after last we left her and Eadulf. The High King has been assassinated and to keep suspicions from causing the Heir elect political problems Fidelma is requested to investigate the matter as an impartial third party. What looks like a simple case with witnesses and a suicide of the assassin turns into much, much more.

I was waiting and hoping for another excellent mystery and Tremayne (IMHO) succeeded and met my expectations once again. He is an Irish historian and he puts lots of details of the time period (7th Century) into his books, but he weaves them so well that it doesn't feel like a history lesson. If you like Agatha Christie or show more Ellis Peters I think you will enjoy Sister Fidelma by Peter Tremayne. show less

I love reading these books of Peter Tremayne. The mystery aspect of the book is superb and the description of the life and times in Ancient Ireland during 669AD is enthralling.

I had suspicions of who were the guilty parties in the murder of the High King of Ireland but it wasn't until the last 20 pages that all the t's were crossed and the i's dotted.

A fast easy to read page turner...loved the book, my second now. I will search for more of the Sister Fidelma series and endeavor to read them in succession.

This is one of my favorites from the series. I like these books because they take place in Ireland (which holds a soft spot in my heart), they are interesting and very clean. I also enjoy the discussions of religion in the book as a result of the tension between the new Christian faith (new to the characters in the books) and the druids.